A violent riot outside a migrant hotel last night was sparked by fury over an online video of a schoolgirl who said she was sexually harassed by a 25-year-old man allegedly staying at the hostel.
The clip showed the man asking the 15-year-old, wearing school uniform, for her number. The teenager, who filmed the exchange on her mobile phone, asked the bearded man his age.
When he replied that he was 25, she says: ‘You don’t do this in this country. You go to jail if you do this.’
The video was said to have been filmed on Tuesday in Kirkby, Merseyside, two miles from the Suites Hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers.
The clip was viewed 150,000 times on Twitter and was re-tweeted by far-Right activists, who said the man was staying at the hotel and called migrants staying there ‘scum’.
A police van was destroyed during the riot outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley, February 10 2023
A police van was set alight in Merseyside after protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers turned violent, February 10. 2023
One said: ‘Dumping illegal migrants here is unfathomable. Liverpool will burn in anger.’
Last night protesters descended on Kirkby, setting fire to a police van chanting ‘get them out’ and ‘this is our city’.
Police were pelted with missiles and forced to wear protective clothing including riot gear shields and helmets.
A total of 15 people have so far been arrested following the violent disorder last night, a spokesperson for the Merseyside Police said.
Knowsley MP Sir George Howarth said the demonstration was triggered by ‘an alleged incident on social media,’ adding: ‘Until the police have investigated the matter, it is too soon to jump to conclusions and the effort on the part of some to inflame the situation is emphatically wrong.
‘If an offence has been committed, the police should deal with it appropriately through due process.’
The girl in the video was walking home dressed in school uniform, when she is hassled for her phone number by the man who was described in local reports as ‘tanned, 5ft 7in tall, slim, with black hair’.
The girl’s mother claimed her daughter had panic attacks following the incident last week.
The riot outside a migrant hotel last night was sparked by fury over an online video of a schoolgirl who said she was sexually harassed by a 25-year-old man allegedly staying at the hostel February 10, 2023
Police detained at least three people following the violent scenes outside the hotel
She told the Liverpool Echo: ‘She was leaving school and walking home when he just approached her and asked “can I take your photo and your number?”
‘He saw her getting her phone out and she started videoing him but he thought she was giving him her number. She was scared at the time even though she acted brave.
‘She asked how old he was and he said he was 25, when she said she was 15 she said he didn’t care. When she walked away he walked in the other direction.’
She added: ‘She came home and had panic attacks. It’s really impacted her and she shouldn’t have to go through this, no child should have to go through this.
‘She’s having thoughts of what could have happened. She’s only a kid at the end of the day. It’s affected her. Imagine what would have happened in the night time.’
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper called last night’s riots ‘shameful and appalling.’
Merseyside’s Police & Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell condemned the ‘shocking and concerning’ violence outside the Suites Hotel
Protesters and counter protesters have clashed outside a Merseyside Hotel housing asylum seekers
The incident happened outside the Suites Hotel in Knowsley. Local MP Sir George Howarth said tensions had been inflamed by misinformation on social media
Clare Moseley, founder of refugee charity Care4Calais, said she was among 100 to 120 people from pro-migrant groups who went to the scene in a counter-protest to show support for the asylum seekers.
She said: ‘I’m trying to get in touch with some of the poor men in that hotel, I can only imagine how frightened they are. It was like a war zone.’
Refugee Action chief executive Tim Naor Hilton wrote on Twitter: ‘If you’re part of a baying mob outside a hotel where refugees live then you’re the far right…even if you don’t like being called that.’
Mr White said: ‘We will always respect the right to protest when these are peaceful, but the scenes tonight were completely unacceptable, putting those present, our officers and the wider community in danger.
‘Thankfully we have not had any serious injuries reported up to this point, but for officers and police vehicles to be damaged in the course of their duty protecting the public is disgraceful.’
